


Gravity's Just A Habit!

by Lanna Michaels (lannamichaels)



Category: The Martian - Andy Weir
Genre: Fictional Fanvid, Metafiction, in-universe media, ok go - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-28
Updated: 2020-10-28
Packaged: 2021-03-08 21:01:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,141
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27253102
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lannamichaels/pseuds/Lanna%20Michaels
Summary: My submission for the Ares 3 Is More Than Love fest, 2038.
Comments: 7
Kudos: 24





	Gravity's Just A Habit!

**Author's Note:**

> Transcript of a fictional fanvid of the Ares 3 crew to the song [Upside Down & Inside Out by OK Go](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tSchXFAlIoA).

Intro: 

[Establishing shot of Earth in its blue marble glory. Half the globe is replaced by a half-globe of Mars. The bottom third of the screen is now the Hermes.

Earth: Shot of everyone from the back as they prepare to leave for Mars.

Mars: Shot of everyone from the back as they prepare to leave the Hab.

Earth: The "yearbook" photo post-return.]

Upside down and inside out and you can feel it

[Hermes: Watney and Martinez doing the Hermes Tango and flubbing a catch.]

Upside down and inside out and you can feel it, feel it

[Hermes: Johanssen does an interview entirely upside down from the orientation of the camera, then rotates at the same time as the camera so the background looks like it's spinning]

Don't know where your eyes are

[Hermes: Watney stares at his plants. Behind him, Vogel is mugging for the camera.]

But they're not doin' what you said

[Hermes: Martinez doing a free-fall handstand with his legs in a V. Beck talks to Vogel through the space. Martinez pretends like he's about to kick Beck.]

Don't know where your mind is, baby

[Earth: Beck reads on his tablet, a pile of bookmarks next to him]

But you're better off without it

[Mars: Johanssen checks Lewis's spacesuit and gives a thumbs up to the camera.]

Inside down and upside out and you can feel it

[Earth/Hermes/Mars: Transitioning of Johanssen doing a yoga pose.]

Don't stop, can't stop, it's like an airplane goin' down

[Earth: Series of serious interviews behind a table, with lots of cameras going off, ending off with Lewis in front of Congress]

I wish I had said the things you thought that I had said

[Hermes: Lewis doing an interview after they thought Watney was dead.]

Gravity's just a habit that you're really sure you can't break

[Mars: Series of photos from the Hab, showing Watney's farmland slowly growing potatoes. Watney is never in the same place between shots, but he is usually wearing a shirt with someone else's name on it. Sometimes these shirts are the wrong way around or inside out.]

So when you met the new you, were you scared? Were you cold? Were you kind?

[Hermes: Post-recovery interviews with the crew, focus on everyone reassuringly touching Watney's arms and shoulders and back.]

Yeah, when you met the new you, did someone die inside?

[Earth: Watney's hospital interviews. He's wearing an ancient Chicago Cubs hoodie and looks like he's being eaten by it. Zoom in on the signatures by the crew on the hoodie.]

Don't stop, can't stop, it's like a freight train

[Earth: Johanssen and Beck running flat out on outside track. Motion continues in the kayaking trip, Martinez lifts his paddle above his head in victory.]

Don't stop, can't stop, it's like an airplane goin' down

[Earth: Johanssen stands in front of a projected presentation at her TED Talk. The slide says ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS.]

Don't know where your eyes are, but they're not doin' what you said

[Hermes: Everyone but Beck are doing push-ups. Beck is standing and watching, holding a clipboard.]

Don't know where your mind is, baby, but you're better off without it

[Hermes: Vogel reads from a tablet. He waves at the camera. Martinez, the operator, waves his hand in front of the camera to return it. Lewis floats in the background, eating dinner.]

Musical interlude:

[Series of snapshots, looking like polaroids:

Hermes: Martinez has Watney's head yanked back and is pretending he's about to bite Watney's neck like a vampire.

Earth: The crew on a couch not big enough to hold all of them, watching the 2029 War Of The Worlds series, all of them engrossed.

Earth: Johanssen's verified twitter feed post of the Mars Needs Women poster with no other context, posted the day of the announcement.

Earth: Backpacks and duffels in a pile, in the middle is a bag that looks like a wookie.

Mars: Vogel and Lewis exchanging Live Long And Prosper gestures.

Hermes: Beck in mid-rant, caption beneath it "I made a mistake" in Watney's handwriting. Tweet beneath it from Beck: "Watney's very wrong about BSG."]

Looks like it's time to decide, are you here? Are you now? Is this it?

[Hermes: The crew's last interview before rescuing Watney. 

Earth: Martinez and Lewis in uniform, standing around outside a hearing room.]

All of those selves that you tried, wasn't one of 'em good enough?

[Mars: Vogel has the camera and is weaving between everyone, showing off the Hab. This is Sol 3 and everyone is grinning.]

'Cause you're upside down and inside out and you can feel it

[Hermes: Watney and Martinez somersault competition redux when Watney is post-Mars and gaunt.]

Inside down and upside out

[Earth: Beck tries to do a handstand in the gym and falls over.]

And you can feel it, feel it

[Earth: Johanssen and Vogel do a complicated handshake in a hallway.]

Don't stop, can't stop, it's like a freight train

[Earth: The crew's first post-return television interview. The lights are bright and no one looks like they want to be there.]

Don't stop, can't stop

[Earth: Phone footage of a backyard barbeque, Martinez has his son on his shoulders.]

Until you feel it goin' down

[Earth: Watney chugs two beers in a row. Everyone cheers.]

I wish I had said the things you thought that I had said (Are you scared? Are you cold? Were you kind?)

[Hermes: Background floating shots from another crewmember's liveblogs. Beck and Watney are tying a shoelace into a knot for reasons that were never explained. Johanssen has one arm looped through a strap and is stretching her back. Vogel is drinking water in the background of the show-and-tell in Beck's bunk. Martinez is doing a completely different experiment for a completely different camera while Johanssen is in focus. Lewis keeps coming into someone else's shot through improbable angles.]

Gravity's just a habit that you're really sure you can't break (Are you here? Are you now? Is this it?)

[Hermes: Beck narrates to the camera and pans the camera across. Watney, post-Mars, is lying on the couch, and waves at the camera without getting up.]

Upside down and inside out and you can feel it

[Earth: The crew on a rock wall in the gym. Johanssen and Lewis reach over to each other and fist bump.]

Don't stop, can't stop, until you feel it goin' down

[Hermes: Sequence of shots from the "How to eat in space" video, everyone cracking up.]

Upside down and inside out and you can feel it

[Hermes: Vogel does an epic series of free-fall acrobatics while everyone applauds.]

Don't stop, can't stop, until you feel it goin' down

[Earth: Everyone looking at each other. End on the snapshot of them grinning at the camera, Martinez's handwritten caption: "Ready for Mars!"]

End credits.

**Author's Note:**

> [this post on dreamwidth](https://lannamichaels.dreamwidth.org/1157717.html); [this post on tumblr](https://lannamichaels.tumblr.com/post/633259908113055744/gravitys-just-a-habit-lanna-michaels)


End file.
